Sous vide Fried chicken

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gnatboy911

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Jan 4, 2017
281
96
Western, CO
Sure doesn't look very appetizing right outta the bath. 160/2.5ish. Meant to do 155 for 3, but got busy and forgot to start them. First time ever cooking fried chicken. They were delicious. Super tender and moist. The wife loved it. Flour seasoned with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and jalapeño powder. Used an egg dip, then flour to dredge. Did two coats. Was good, but not as crunchy as I had hoped for. Next time I'll do something different with the batter. Any suggestions?
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That really does look yummy.. lol I think it looks point worthy. [emoji]129299[/emoji]

:points1:
Not sure what tricks they use for more crunch.. maybe let the chicken rest 15 min after its floured.. then fry it?
 
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I had the post about brine cured sv fried thighs . I bought a mix . but use 5 tbls of your coating mixed with 1/2 cup water .  Dip in the slurry first then into the dry . Let it tack up then into the dry again . Very crunchy . 
 
Looks Tasty.

A couple things to help you out on the batter.

Give this recipe a try. One note, do not make this in advance, You need to make any batter you use when frying right when you are ready to fry. Have oil heated and meat ready, make batter. dip let excess drip off  fry.

For the batter you need 1/2 cup corn starch, 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup vodka, 1/2 +/- cup water, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. Mix everything together except water. Slowly whisk in water watch the consistency. The batter needs to ribbon off the whisk when raised and it should disappear into the batter.

I use Bend distillery hatch chili vodka. It did add a bit of heat to the batter.
 

It will give you a nice light crisp batter.
 
Looks Tasty.

A couple things to help you out on the batter.

Give this recipe a try. One note, do not make this in advance, You need to make any batter you use when frying right when you are ready to fry. Have oil heated and meat ready, make batter. dip let excess drip off  fry.

For the batter you need 1/2 cup corn starch, 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup vodka, 1/2 +/- cup water, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. Mix everything together except water. Slowly whisk in water watch the consistency. The batter needs to ribbon off the whisk when raised and it should disappear into the batter.

I use Bend distillery hatch chili vodka. It did add a bit of heat to the batter.

 
It will give you a nice light crisp batter.
How deep is the oil going to be for batter? When I fry chicken I just cover the bottom of the pan.
 
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Vodka? In batter? What does it do?
When you fry chicken the liquid needs to evaporate off the skin and crust. Vodka having alcohol evaporates faster than other liquids like water, milk, pickle juice etc.

It also helps block the formation of gluten when you are mixing the ingredients together. For crisp skin minimizing gluten in your batter is important.

One more thing that really helps crisp the skin, which can't be done if you sous vide (I guess you could) is to air dry the chicken in the fridge for 8-24 hours.

Not sure that there is much gained sous viding chicken then frying it.
 
How deep is the oil going to be for batter? When I fry chicken I just cover the bottom of the pan.
1"-2" typically. I fry all of mine (unless its oven fried then that's a totally different process) in my discada or in a Dutch oven outdoors.

 Keep in mind you can use other types of liquor. Vodka is the main one as it doesn't (unless you use flavored) give off any flavor. In the above recipe I also substitute beer for the water when doing onion rings, poppers, etc.

 
Looks great, but may I ask, why bother with the sous vide.  I find sous vide useful when trying to cook something that is easy to over cook or needing to time something perfectly.  I never thought about friend chicken.

I can understand if you are trying to cook a large boneless skinless chicken breast evenly, but arent legs pretty forgiving and fry pretty fast?
 
When you fry chicken the liquid needs to evaporate off the skin and crust. Vodka having alcohol evaporates faster than other liquids like water, milk, pickle juice etc.

It also helps block the formation of gluten when you are mixing the ingredients together. For crisp skin minimizing gluten in your batter is important.

One more thing that really helps crisp the skin, which can't be done if you sous vide (I guess you could) is to air dry the chicken in the fridge for 8-24 hours.

Not sure that there is much gained sous viding chicken then frying it.
Thanks. Gotta try it.
 
Thanks for all the points, tips, and suggestions.  Seemed to me that sous vide legs, then fried, were very evenly moist and tender. They only fry for about 2-3 minutes tops at 400ish, so its just enough to crisp up the batter.  I thought the meat was better than other fried chicken legs I've had in the past.  I encourage you to give it a try if you haven't yet.

thanks again!
 
Good looking chicken. I do a ton of boneless skinless breast. I will have to try fried chicken someday.
 
Yes on the vodka!!! This is the ancient Korean secret. The recipe dirtsailor posted is perfect for that "just right" crispy wing that's not too thick of a batter and gets perfectly crispy. You can toss 50/50 in Franks/creole butter, bbq sauce, teriyaki or any other sauce of your choice for that matter. But do that immediately before serving. I use a large bowl with about 1/4 sauce to about 6 wing sections.

This will work for frying just about anything, but you can add just 1 more step for "extra crispy":  After letting batter drip off, roll in Panko bread crumbs then fry immediately. This is exceptional for onion rings!  I do fish fry's and fish tacos A LOT with this recipe.

Another thing to note is that the above batter has NO SEASONINGS in it. Of course you can add some: Johnnies seasoning, Italian spices, garlic and or onion powder, chile powder or cayenne, You get the point. For fish I will a quite a bit of Old Bay Seasoning,
 
This recipe for a crispy coating is yummy.

1 1/4 C AP flour
3/4 C cornstarch
1 Tbs pepper
1 Tbs granulated garlic
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
3 LG egg whites lightly beaten
1 tsp white pepper if you have it.

You whisk all the dry ingredients together. If you marinated your chicken or its wet,, pat dry. Coat the pieces with egg white and let excessive drip off.. dredge and press the flour on the pieces. 1 at a time is best. Then you lay the pieces on a rack over a cookie sheet or pan.. stick it in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours.

Heat up qts of oil in a big Dutch oven or heavy duty pot. About 2 inches in bottom. 325 degrees.
Thighs should be 175 IT breast 160
 
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